DD (3yo) has gaps between her teeth - nutrition issue?

[laohaire]

I think I've heard here on MDC a long time ago that having gaps between the teeth (I guess more that the teeth themselves are small) indicates a certain nutritional issue?

Can you provide more info? My 3.5 year old definitely has pretty big gaps between her teeth (all of them).

[laohaire]

Oh, and it's not that her teeth haven't come in on schedule - they have. So it shouldn't be a matter of more teeth coming in to close up the gaps. At least as far as I understand it.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Never heard that before. My kids have big gaps but it is genetic on my side to have a wide gap between the top teeth.

To me it is a good sign there will be room for all the adult teeth to come it without crowding.

[Ruthla]

According to my dentist, gaps between primary teeth are a GOOD thing. It means that you don't need to floss becuase the toothbrush can reach all tooth surfaces. It means there's plenty of space in her mouth, so that when the adult teeth come in, they won't end up crowded and crooked. She made some comment about "kids used to have spaces between their teeth but more and more kids have crowded mouths these days".

Based on my understanding of dr Weston A. Price's research, poor nutrition leads to jaws that are not fully developed, and there isnt' enough space for all the teeth. So, for the dentist to notice that crowded teeth have become more common- it seems like that's a result of poor nutrition recently.

[krankedyann]

What Ruthla said is what my research and my dentist both say- the more gaps, the better, since it shows plenty of room for adult teeth and less dental health issues as they grow.

[tanyalynn]

I'd basically agree with the two previous posters. Are these regular gaps between all the teeth, or irregular? My first has irregular gaps, some teeth are a bit crowded, some have bigger gaps, and I don't think that's great, but I think it's better than my 2nd child who has crowded baby teeth (top front teeth touching, bottom front teeth form a v because they're so crowded there's not room). You want extra room so that the adult teeth, which are bigger, have room to come in properly.